Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa African Hunting Book Recommendation

I read "Death In The Long Grass" by Capstick a long time ago and I really enjoyed it. I loved reading about the good old days of hunting Africa and I would like to pick up another book similar to that. I was planning to just get another one of Capstick's books, but I thought I'd check in with the Campfire and see if there is any "must-read" book that I might be overlooking on the old days of African hunting with the legends like Ruark, etc. Thanks for suggesting any favorites you might have!

For the great early days of African hunting start w/ Selous and Baldwin, amazing times and hunters.


mike r

I would HIGHLY recommend " White Hunters" by Brian Herne

Hunter by John Hunter

I would be hard to recommend just one book on "the old days" of African hunting, since they go back much further than Ruark and Hemingway. It's also hard to stop with just one. Here's part of my little library, but have seen far more extensive collections. (Have also sold some of mine, partly to finance safaris, including a copy of Elmer Keith's Safari, but that's another subject.)



But perhaps my favorite of "historical" accounts of the classic African hunting is this one:



It's a collection of of stories from various British hunters in the early 1900s--and not hard to find on the Internet, and not all that expensive. I got lucky, and was given my copy as a present from Jack O'Connor's son Bradford a few years ago--the copy Jack gave him years ago. In his inscription to Brad, Jack says "Chapter Seven, Addax Hunting in Dongola" by Maydon, "is one of the finest hunting stories ever written." Since it appeared around a century ago, obviously the info isn't current, but it's a fascinating look at what once was.

+1 for "White Hunters" and also for "Hunter" by John A Hunter.

Yep, you will see Hunter toward the right end of the second shelf of my first photo--alongside Hunter's Tracks by him, and another great collection of stories.

Another one I recently reread was Kambaku, but Harry Manners, another excellent look at that era.

If you like the thought of Cape Buffalo hunting then by all means you must read Berger.

I sure appreciate all the good recommendations! I don't think I'll ever be able to hunt Africa so I'd like to live as much of the good old safari days vicariously through the stories as I can. I shoot a CZ550 American in 6.5x55 Swedish and I always think that would be a good light rifle to take there. Once I got to shoot a CZ550 Safari in .458 Win Mag. We shot 350 and 500 grain bullets. That was something else! With open sights at 50 yards I was dead center in the bullseye. After that first shot though I must have started flinching a little because my groups weren't very impressive. But it was a cherished experience to at least have gotten to shoot a genuine "elephant" rifle!

It sounds like "Hunter" is going to be in my shopping cart tonight and maybe a couple of other titles such as "White Hunters" and maybe the Maydon book. That one has me intrigued, especially with the endorsement of the patron saint of the .270 Winchester!

Thanks everyone, I hope you all have a safe and fun Memorial Day!

Another REAL interesting read is " Bell of Africa" Its Karamojo Bells memoirs...a VERY interesting man.

Yep--as is Karamojo Safari, which is on my shelves next to Bell of Africa. Both are in the photo just to the left of several Craig Boddington books--and then Horned Death by John Burger, and next Peter Capstick's biography of John Taylor, A Man Called Lion--which I've found more interesting than Capstick's other books.

On the upper left of the photo are three books by Finn Aagaard, one with additional material material added by his wife Berit, herself a very good writer. Finn was born in Kenya 1932, and started hunting as soon as he could hold and aim a rifle, eventually starting his own safari company. So his African hunting stories encompass a lot of what's sometimes called the "classic" post-WWII safari era, when Ruark and others hunted.

If you want to read a lot of detail about hunting rifles for Africa, Craig Boddington's Safari Rifles II is good. In addition to his own opinions he includes surveys of African PH's of their opinions about rifles.

I went ahead and ordered a copy of "Hunter" by John A. Hunter. It should be here tomorrow, I'm excited to kick back in the woods in my hammock on Memorial Day, relax and get into "Hunter".

I was debating between "White Hunters" and "Hunter". The former was $18 for a paperback, the latter was Hardcover for $30. I chose to get the hardcover to start my own little "African" collection.

Thanks again for all the good suggestions! Being a fan of the 6.5 Swede I always liked reading about the elephants Bell killed with his 6.5x54 M-S and 7x57 Mauser. He must have been a real cool shot under pressure. I appreciate those who brought him up, I am definitely interested in reading about his adventures too.

There are so many good books. I highly recommend Horned Death by John Burger. The National Sporting Fraternity published many great books, including anthologies Hunting The African Elephant, and the same title for Lion, Leopard and Buffalo. If you can find The East African Hunters, get it.

Ruark, whose works have probably been mentioned already, is well worth reading. I also recommend the book that started my African desire, Wanderings of an Elephant Hunter by WDM Bell. I bought a first edition back in 1977, when I was but 18 years old. It started an interest in Africa that has become a passion. I highly recommend it.

Consider Capstick as partial fiction. Many experiences were true but there was also some glamour added to make it more interesting.

My recommendation is to start another savings account at a bank. Put a little in when you can. Do side jobs. You'll be surprised that in a couple years how much you have accrued. Keep reading and fuel that desire. Don't bring your trophies home. You can find a cull hunt fairly cheap but you'll still get the experience. You need to do this otherwise you'll regret it.

I finished "Hunter" this evening and started "White Hunters" immediately. I knew I wouldn't want to have to wait to get it so I secured a copy when I was about halfway through "Hunter" so I'd have it on-deck. So far it is starting out really good.

The best book is Months of The Sun by Ian Nychens.Hunter by John Hunter is good.Then there is Corbet's books on man killers in India.All these authors are a little screwed up but the hunting stories are priceless.The books by the drunk Ruark were the worst.

Naw, the best book is Tuskers In The Dust by Fred Everett. Nychens comes in second.

And a lot of it written from a barstool...